catapult magazine

I don’t normally have access to cnn but today I did, and today happens to be the day when Obama had to make a speech on racism because of video clips from his pastor which are being played over and over on American networks. Now I listened to those soundbites which are supposedly so horrible, and even out of context as they are, I can’t see what’s so bad about them. Kinda nice to hear a pastor say it like it is: that rich white people control the economy and that people should make the connection between 911 and america’s support for terrorists around the world throughout the cold war years. sounds like a church i could attend. i’m disappointed that obama felt he had to say his pastor was wrong when he is clearly right. and i’m shocked that everyone from slate.com to cnn is unwilling to see the pastor as anything but a nutcase. it almost seems like the problem was the oratory style, not what was being said. was obama distancing himself from the preaching style of his pastor rather than the content? i feel there is something powerfully racist going on but i can’t put my finger on it. also, is it still taboo in the US to say that US foreign policy had anything to do with 911? any comments?

Now I’ve been doing a little thinking of my own. The things you’ve mentioned have been helpful and challenging to me. I did not mean to suggest that we give up "race talk" or ignore history. Present social evils should be exposed.

I don’t think we have to choose between particulars (race, personal history) and commonalities (human, American, Christian). But I do think there is great danger is emphasizing the particulars over the commonalities. When we emphasize what makes us distinct (our particular "identifying characteristics"), there is no basis or hope for meaningful unity.

MLK, Jr did not ignore or devalue the particular circumstances of his time or people, but he chose to emphasize commonalities ("all God’s children"). His dream stressed what unites rather than what divides. Wright, it seems to me, is emphasizing particulars in an unhelpful way. To join his church, a credible profession of faith is not enough: you also have to commit to Africa and black values. That is contrary to the unifying, redeeming work of Christ. This is why Obama was right to disagree with him.

April 28, 2008, 1:07 pm
Rev. Wright Defends Church, Blasts Media

By Kate Phillips

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/rev-wright-defends-church-blasts-media/index.html?hp

Maybe many of you saw the article online that suggests Wright has come out of "hiding" now because he is a supporter of Hillary Clinton. I would like to believe that Rev. Wright is being true to his word, that he is not getting involved in politics but is merely taking up the discussion about the differences between the black church in America and white European views on church. That is a discussion worth having since America’s theological views have always been and continue to be so important for the future of the nation, not just politically but in every area of society. I’m not sure Wright is the best guy for the job of explaining the black church to white America, but it’s worth a shot! Maybe this media attention can be used to uncover our differences and lead to a better understanding of the challenges we face as a diverse nation.

Check out this editorial (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opinion/04rich.html?em&ex=1210046400&en=1ab063165842695f&ei=5087%0A) from the New York Times pointing out that the true dialogue on race in this country has not even begun in politics. I would go further and say that the issue of race is not nearly as large as that of theology. McCain’s connection to John Hagee, whose end times views are wrapped up in moralism and literalism, doesn’t really cause the same kind of outrage as Wright, who blamed Sept. 11 not on American immorality (homosexuality, abortion etc.) but on American foreign policy. But aren’t these both issues of immorality?

Why do many American Christians stop short of carrying the issue of immorality to governmental practices and societal institutions? Now we are seeing the unfortunate results of a theology that reduces Christ’s redemption to the saving of an individual from his/her sins. Conservative Republican administrations are exempt as long as the head of that administration is "saved". African-American Christians know the societal implications of sin. They know firsthand from the slave experience that "good Christian men" are capable of doing very unChristian things when they are caught up in an unChristian system (economic, political etc.).